SVB Financial Group Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection, Receives $500M Investment from General Atlantic

SVB Financial Group, the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York.[0] The filing comes less than a week after the US government seized SVB’s banking unit.[1] In a new press release, the SVB Financial Group says it is going to use the court-supervised process to evaluate strategic alternatives for its prized businesses and assets, including SVB Capital and SVB Securities.[2]

SVB Financial Group is estimated to have approximately $2.2 billion of liquidity and its funded debt is estimated to be more than $3 billion.[0] It also has $3.7 billion of preferred equity outstanding, and owes bondholders around $3.3 billion.[3] The company believes it has other valuable securities and assets that are being considered for sale.[4]

SVB Securities and SVB Capital’s funds and general partner entities have not been included in the Chapter 11 filing and are still operating as SVB Financial Group continues to explore potential strategic alternatives for these beneficial businesses.[5]

In addition, SVB announced that it had entered into a subscription agreement with General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity investor, to purchase $500 million of common stock at the public offering price in the offering of common stock in a separate private transaction.[1] It also intends to grant (i) the underwriters in the common stock offering an option to purchase up to an additional $187.5 million of common stock and The underwriters in the Preferred Stock offering have an option to purchase up to an additional $75 million, or 1.5 million depositary shares, of the Preferred Stock.

William Kosturos, Chief Restructuring Officer for SVB Financial Group, said, “The Chapter 11 process will allow SVB Financial Group to preserve value as it evaluates strategic alternatives for its prized businesses and assets, especially SVB Capital and SVB Securities. We are committed to finding practical solutions to maximize the recoverable value for stakeholders of both entities.”[5]

Large US banks – Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and others – have also joined forces to inject $30bn into First Republic, which has seen customers yank their money following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and fears that First Republic could be next.[6]

0. “SVB parent company files for bankruptcy after bank collapse” The Hill, 17 Mar. 2023, https://thehill.com/business/economy/3905000-svb-parent-company-files-for-bankruptcy-after-bank-collapse/

1. “SVB falls 5% after the bell on $1.25B stock offering, $500M depositary share offering” Seeking Alpha, 8 Mar. 2023, https://seekingalpha.com/news/3945644-svb-falls-5-after-the-bell-on-125b-stock-offering-500m-depositary-share-offering

2. “SVB Financial Goes Bankrupt, Buying Time to Repay Creditors (1)” Bloomberg Law, 17 Mar. 2023, https://news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-law/svb-financial-group-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-protection

3. “Bitcoin and gold benefit from the spreading banking contagion as SVB Financial Group files for bankruptcy” Kitco NEWS, 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.kitco.com/news/2023-03-17/Bitcoin-and-gold-benefit-from-the-spreading-banking-contagion-as-SBV-Financial-Group-files-for-bankruptcy.html

4. “Parent of Silicon Valley Bank seeks bankruptcy protection” WYFF4 Greenville, 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.wyff4.com/article/silicon-valley-bank-bankruptcy-protection/43347513

5. “The Inevitable End – SVB Financial Officially Files For Bankruptcy In New York – SVB Finl Gr (NASDAQ:SIVB” Benzinga, 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.benzinga.com/news/23/03/31396332/the-inevitable-end-svb-financial-officially-files-for-bankruptcy-in-new-york

6. “SVB parent files for bankruptcy; Credit Suisse shares slide again amid banking crisis – as it happened” The Guardian, 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2023/mar/17/markets-us-banks-first-republic-rescue-business-live